In recent years it has been noticeable that the amount of people carrying a smart phone has increased exponentially. This is down to their low price and availability; even children as young as 12 have a smart phone. However, most people who own a smart phone are not aware of the data hidden in even the simplest and most innocent things they do on their phones. This includes armed forces staff. This article will look at the issues and possible repercussions of the availability of such easily obtained data.
Let’s consider a scenario: in this case an armed forces staff member is on patrol. they take a picture of themselves and upload it to a social media. Their personal profile on this site is not secured or has limited access that allows anyone to view their photos. A militant group happens to be doing some research on their “enemy”. They use advanced search on Google then happen use the correct collection of words or phrases, and just happens to find this picture. What could possibly happen?
